GOD LIVES ON TERRA

I was born in Inverness on the second day of spring
but my soul yearned to sail the stars • my heart did long to sing
so when I made my sixteenth year I signed my life away
and flew out from this world to which with joy I come today
now somewhere in Eighth Sector there's a world called Hellendiv
where long ago the spacefolk did decide the gods did live
and aye : that world is heavenly but Heaven it not be
for my God made my heart and made the land most dear to me
for God lives on Terra
in her lands of evergreen
her silken skies over velvet vales
the most lovely I have seen
and when I watch a sunset
fade from red to royal blue
I know God lives on Terra
she's His own dream come true
I've seen the sun on Rakkis and I've felt her golden sands
on Wrigley's I once won a bet and I've held a queen's fair hand
and I've made love in the summer snows of a Rigel mountain cap
and seen the universe unfold on Pern from dragonback
yes I've seen this whole grand galaxy and I thank the Lord for that
I thank God for the chance to go and the chance to now come back
and I thank the Lord that I was born in the cradle of mankind
I love the God who made this world whose beauty outlives time
for God lives on Terra
in the hearts and souls of man
why search the stars for lost Eden's shores
when He made her right at hand?
the beauties of her blueness
always moves my heart to tears
for God so loved Terra
that He chose to live right here
yes : God lives on Terra
He lives and loves right here
julia ecklar

ETERNAL FLAME

I was taught assembler in my second year of school
it's kinda like construction work with a toothpick for a tool
so when I made my senior year I threw my code away
and learned the way to program that I still prefer today
now some folks on the internet put their faith in C++
they swear that it's so powerful it's what God used for us
and maybe it lets mortals dredge their objects from the C
but I think that explains why only God can make a tree
for God wrote in Lisp code
when he filled the leaves with green
the fractal flowers and recursive roots
the most lovely hack I've seen
and when I ponder snowflakes
never finding two the same
I know God likes a language
with its own four-letter name
now I've used a SUN under UNIX : so I've seen what C can hold
I've surfed for PERLs : found what FORTRAN's for and got that JAVA stuff down cold
though the chance that I'd write COBOL code is a SNOBOL's chance in Hell
and I BASICally hate hieroglyphs so I won't use APL.
now God must know all these languages and a few I haven't named
but the Lord made sure when each sparrow falls that it's flesh will be reclaimed
and the Lord could not count grains of sand with a 32-bit word
who knows where we would go to if Lisp weren't what he preferred?
and God wrote in Lisp code
every creature great and small
don't search the disk drive for man dot c
when the listing's on the wall
and when I watch the lightning burn
unbelievers to a crisp
I know God had six days to work
so he wrote it all in Lisp
yes God had a deadline
so he wrote it all in Lisp
bob kanefsky
Confused? So was I. The latter lyric is a kinda paraphrase or parody:
visit Tab Page for a brief.